IYK committee attempts to tackle potential bird hazard

An Inyokern Airport Board of Directors safety committee met Monday evening in an attempt to get all its ducks in a row amid recent concerns over a proposed pistachio orchard and potential bird strike hazards.

Comment

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Mar. 5, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Updated Mar 5, 2013 at 9:45 PM

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Mar. 5, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Updated Mar 5, 2013 at 9:45 PM

An Inyokern Airport Board of Directors safety committee met Monday evening in an attempt to get all its ducks in a row amid recent concerns over a proposed pistachio orchard and potential bird-strike hazards.

Directors Steve Morgan and Axel Alvarez discussed the options of possible avigation easements after Inyokern residents brought the presence of a pistachio farm that flew under the radar of the airport to the IYK board's attention at its February meeting.

"I believe there are some communication issues between us and the verbiage in the airport land use compatibility plan that need to be discussed with the county staff," Morgan said.

Morgan pointed out it was necessary the airport board and county go over the plan's language in context with certain zoning areas around the airport.

The proposed pistachio farm lies in a corridor approximately 8,000 feet south IYK's Runway 33, and in its path over its approach corridors.

Inyokern resident Steve Pennix brought it to the attention of the airport in February, contesting that if allowed to proceed it would present a potential bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH).

Pennix also indicated Kern County had failed to trigger a California Environmental Quality Act procedure and inform the public of the pistachio farm via a public hearing..

The pistachio farm falls in the county's A-1 zone, or limited agricultural area, allowing for large-scale agricultural activity growing orchards or similar actives without a permit from the county.

"There is no question in my mind that the zoning in the county is proper," Morgan said.

He said the county's airport land use compatibility plan should be altered so that the airport's board of directors was officially notified of any future activity in the area.

"When you look at the plan and see what is zoned out there, we could have some problems out there in the future for properties that are close and zoned agricultural that we would not even know about," Morgan said.

"Most of the birds that are going to be playing around in that orchard are going to be on the ground in my opinion," Seymour said.

Director Alvarez said he had spoken with local pistachio orchard owners, including Don Quist, and disagreed it should be written off as not a problem.

"He (Quist) told me from June to March there were constant flocks of ravens were out there, to the point where he thought about closing up shop," Alvarez said.

Alvarez pointed out there could be discussions with grove owners over how to mitigate bird problems. He said that Mojave Pistachios, LLC had a wildlife depredation permit from the U.S. Department of Fish and Game to handle potential raven problems.

Page 2 of 3 - "That is something the land owner is going to do," Seymour said. "He said he was not going to grow pistachios to feed birds."

Alvarez suggestion the land owner, Mike McGee, offer up a way to inform the public of all his mitigation plans.

He said while McGee apparently done everything correctly, and the airport could do nothing, in the interest of transparency, the board could arrange something.

"He should at least try to offer up the plan on how he is going to mitigate these things and brief it to the public," Alvarez said.

Morgan asked about the plan itself and how it was set up.

"This B2 zone off the end of runway assumed that we would be extending that runway to 9,000 feet," Morgan said. "Where in the future of the plans of the airport is that feasible?"

Seymour indicated that it was not possible and the maximum expansion was 1,600 feet unless Caltrans signed off on a tunnel underneath Highway 395.

Morgan said the issue might need to be revisited as well, especially if the zone might shrink. He said that while the B2 zoning was off of Runway 33, the area of concern, there was no B2 zone for IYK's main approach, Runway 20.

When Morgan and Alvarez asked if it were possible to integrate a wildlife mitigation plan into an avigation easement agreement with McGee, IYK district counsel Scott Nave mentioned a draft update of the FAA's advisory circular.

He also said that avigation easements did not necessarily pertain to wildlife mitigation plans. Per FAA guidelines, they deal with height restrictions of buildings, aircraft noise, fumes and potential objects falling from aircraft.

Morgan offered up a potential solution to integrate mitigation into avigation easements, using Quist's orchard as an example.

"The Quist farm takes care of an issue they have with jack rabbits in a certain way, leaving carcasses around which will attract predators, including birds," Morgan said, indicating he would not want property owners in the area following the same procedure. "I don't care if they get rid of Fluffy but I want them disposing of that carcass to mitigate the presence of birds."

When Seymour mentioned the airport would be pursuing an wildlife management plan in 2013, the committee recommended killing two birds with one stone. Nave mentioned if FAA's advisory update went into effect, it would require an FAA-certified wildlife biologist to prepare the plan.

Nave recommended the airport district have its consultants prepare something so when it sat down with the county, the board would have a game plan.

Alvarez said that the only solution was to move forward in trying to prevent future contentions, with Morgan agreeing. Morgan said the McGee property was a dubious best-case scenario.

Page 3 of 3 - "I think we were all caught surprise by this, including the staff," Morgan said.